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  • Compact Disc (CD) + Digital Album

    3 CD box set with 40 songs about Olympia WA plus a detailed 80 page book with the history behind the songs and a plethora of great photos. With over 100 Olympa musicians. Stunning!

    Includes unlimited streaming of Olympia - A True Story via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more.
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      $25 USD or more 

     

  • Streaming + Download

    Includes unlimited streaming via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more.
    Purchasable with gift card

      $1 USD  or more

     

  • Buy the Full Digital Album

about

You can’t do this album without the obligatory “founders” song, so this is it! First and foremost, this is the essential story of how the settlers came and took the land away from the people already living here. The United States had already agreed with England that it “owned” this land. From there it was just a matter of taking possession and moving the local residents (the Indians) out.
There are a few other founders that get mentioned in all the books, but these are your essential regularly named settlers, all featured in my Thurston County, WA Never Knows History Cards sets (from 2012 kids – you can still get them at Gallery Boom)! Local history has come a long way since I was a kid. I don’t remember it being much of a big deal around here before I left town in 1971 - but then, was I even paying attention at eighteen?
Now there is historical stuff everywhere. At the end of the song, I list some great local history resources. On a musical note, I thought this song was done and Nick came up with the whole idea of a retrospective final verse. Brilliant, Nick!
Crooks, Drew, Ed. (2009) Olympia, Washington : A People’s History. Olympia, WA: City of Olympia.
Newell, Gordon. (1950) So Fair A Dwelling Place: A History of Olympia and Thurston County, Washington. Olympia: F. George Warren.
Stevenson, Shanna B. (1985) Olympia, Tumwater, and Lacey. Virginia Beach, VA: The Donning Company Publishers.
For more great Olympia history information check out:
Olympia Historical Society and Bigelow House Museum
olympiahistory.org
Thurston County Historic Commission
www.co.thurston.wa.us/permitting/historic/historic-home.html
Washington State Historical Society
www.washingtonhistory.org

lyrics

In 1792 the British came to Puget Sound
Native People were already living there
In 1841 Americans came to Budd Bay
Native People were already living there

Olympia and Tumwater came from somewhere
This song is gonna tell you where
It's got some names and it's got some dates
And it's sprinkled with incidental facts

In 1845 Michael T. Simmons arrived at Deschutes Falls, his party included George Bush
They'd come north because George was Black and not allowed to settle south of the Columbia
Tumwater was born, though it was called New Market then
The first white settlement near Budd Bay
New Market became Tumwater in 1863
Tumwater means a waterfall in Chinook

Olympia and Tumwater came from someone
This song is telling you who
This song is full of names and dates
Many of them probably correct

In 1846 Edmund Sylvester and Levi Lathrop Smith jointly claimed the future downtown Olympia
In 1848 Smith drowned and Sylvester became the sole owner of the land
He named the town Smithfield in honor of his friend
In 1853 the town became Olympia
One hundred people, three stores, hotel, saloon, and newspaper
Soon named the Washington Territory capital

Isaac Stevens was the territory's first governor
He would be killed in the Civil War
The territory's legislature first convened on Main Streetback in 1854

Daniel Bigelow arrived in 1851
He was in the first Washington Legislature
He was the first Olympia School superintendent
He and wife Ann advocated for women's suffrage
Captain Samuel Percival arrived in 1853
Sam built a sawmill on a little creek
He built a busy dock down on Water Street
The transportation, business, and social center of the town

Bush Prairie is named for George Bush, the first Black man who came to the South Puget Sound
Sylvester's name has gained some fame as Olympia's oldest park
Governor Stevens sports a neighborhood and ball field
Bigelow is remembered in a neighborhood, a street, a park and a museum all named after him
While Percival's little creek now bears his name
His Percival Landing is now a park where people like to walk

Olympia & Tumwater had founders
This song has told you their names
This song is lacking in much detail
But it is all on the internet
Through the Olympia Historical Society
The Thurston County Historic Commission
And the Washington State Historical Society

credits

from Olympia - A True Story, released October 14, 2022
The True Olympians

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Tom Dyer and The True Olympians Olympia, Washington

The True Olympians were formed shortly after Tom Dyer moved back to his hometown Olympia in 2006. Their focus is primarily recording, though they do play yer occasional live show. Current members: Tom - vox, guitar etc,, Gene Tveden- bass, b-vox, Joe Cason - keys, b-vox, Lisa Ceazan- vocals, and Jeff Parkhurst - drums, b-vox. Jeff is the band's 4th drummer. ... more

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